Our extended stay in central California was over and now we were going to head back to Canada for a couple of months. Most of the route would be along the coast on Hwy 101, especially in N. California and Oregon, and we considered getting the ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC and spending some time on Vancouver. It seemed like a good until we visited BC Ferries website and found the fare would be about $250, because of the extra charge for the trailer!  We settled for a road-only trip, stopping wherever it looked nice and taking a week for the 1000 mile trip.

The first day was a short trip to a campground near Willits, CA which we could reach in a couple of hours, giving us time to head over the coastal mountains on the bike and explore the coastline between Mendocino and Rockport. This is a particularly rugged stretch of coast, especially at Mendocino Headland - we spent ages here watching the huge waves crash onto the rocks and surge under the arches.
 

N. California coast

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The coastal road near Rockport was spectacular, and had oceanfront camping.	Mendocino Headland

The 60 mile stretch of coast from Rockport to Eureka is not accessible by road as Hwy 101 moves inland, but it passes right through the Humboldt Redwood State Park. Here the giant Redwood trees reach over 350' - much higher than the giant sequoias, but usually less than 20' at the base, unlike the 40' diameter of the sequoias. The Redwoods claim to be the tallest living things, whilst the sequoias are the largest. Running alongside Hwy 101 is the 30 mile Avenue of the Giants - this is a wonderful road cut through the heart of the forest.  We were a bit apprehensive of taking the trailer through there as it's narrow and twisty, but fortunately there was almost no traffic (it's late in their season) and we were glad we didn't miss it.  Not much further north was the town of Eureka which has some beautiful Victorian homes, and then we saw an oceanside camping lot that we just had to stay at.  It was right alongside the beach, with a mist-shrouded lagoon on the other side of the road. It's not often you get the chance to lay in bed at night and listen to the Pacific breakers :-)
 

Redwood State Park and Eureka, CA

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The Avenue of Giants, Redwood State Park	Eureka, CA	Oceanfront overnight stop just north of Eureka

After a morning stroll among the seagulls, we soon reached Oregon and were looking forward to visiting its State Parks dotted along the coast.  Check a map of the Oregon coast and you'll see Hwy 101 closely follows the ocean and there are State Parks every few miles.  We stopped at the first one, just a few miles from the border, Harris Beach State Park in Brookings, and decided to stay there a couple of nights.  Most of our time was spent walking on the beach or just sitting watching the waves.
 

Brookings, OR

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Entering Oregon	Harris Beach State Park

We worked our way through Oregon with overnight stops at Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon, then at Beverley Beach State Park, Newport, and finally Fort Stevens State Park, near Astoria and almost on the Washington stateline. The coastline was very rugged, and often shrouded in mist, making it quite dramatic. 
 

Oregon coast

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Stopping to watch the waves	It was usually quite misty on the Oregon coast.

By the time we reached Washington we decided to leave Hwy 101 and take the direct route to BC, stopping only at Olympia for a hot dog in Costco, before zipping through Seattle and reaching the Canadian border.  After an uneventful stop at Canadian Immigration, we felt like we were coming home at last !!  The euphoria didn't last long - the heaviest rain EVER to fall in Vancouver started the next day and we woke up surrounded by water!
 

Welcome to Vancouver ...

Camping on the water ...	Emergency footware

Now for 2 months rest before heading south for Tucson, AZ in December ...